Books & Sweets
by Annakyirea
Summary: Most think Kiel is to naive to realize he has feelings for Frey, and unfortunately, they're right - at least for a while they're right! (There aren't enough stories for him so here we go)
1. Chp 1: Spring Reading

**_(Note) This is a one shot for the most part, but I may write more of them if they're wanted or I think them up!_**

**_Either way! Enjoy! _**

**_I didn't use 'Frey' by the way, I used my saves name._**

* * *

"Kiel?"

The young man looked up from his novel to see a familiar smile looking down at him, "Oh, hi Aleha!"

She sat beside him; the bench on the street where he lived was an excellent place to read on spring mornings. They had made a promise that once a week the two would meet and read books together; since they had become friends it was fun for them. Most found reading books to be a strange way of spending time together, but the princess was never bored with Kiel.

Aleha took her seat, "That book you lent me was great, I was wondering if you had any others like it."

"You liked it?" It was a book even his sister thought was silly, about a princess who was being married to a prince but loved a normal man, "Yeah, I have plenty."

The two sat quietly for a moment before she spoke again, "So, how was the cake I gave you?"

"It was great, chocolate cake is my favorite!"

"I'm glad."

She smiled, feeling shy since she was trying to get him to notice her. The young man just went back to silently reading; content she was sitting beside him on such a nice day. It seemed hopeless to her, that he would notice her feelings but the princess persevered, trying to give the subtle hints she was told a man needed to understand how a woman felt. Though she began to doubt Vishnal's advice when every attempt was greeted with 'wow, Aleha, you're such a great friend'.

A sigh escaped the princess' lips and the young man took notice, "Are you all right?"

She blushed, thinking he hadn't heard it, "Ah, no, I mean… I'm fine!" Aleha smiled as best she could, but her friend could see through it and frowned, "It's nothing really, I promise!"

"If you say so…"

That made her feel worse, but she took solace in the moments she could spend happily beside him with a book in hand. Even if she would only be his friend forever Aleha would be happy as long as Kiel had a smile on his face. When she first realized that she knew she had fallen in love with him, his kind nature and naivety was charming and his energy always cheered her up when she was down.

A cold breeze blew over her bare shoulders, causing her to shiver – again Kiel took his short cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. He tightened the clasp and looked up to see her face had turned scarlet in shock. This was the first hint he finally understood, making him blush as well as he moved away. Aleha sighed mentally at how silly she felt, not knowing their relationship was beginning to bloom.


	2. Chp 2: Confusion

**_Note: Thanks to Readingpassion-writinglove I decided to write a chapter with Forte involved – she's a little bit of the main character of this chapter but it follows sometime after the first chapter. _**

* * *

"Kiel?"

His sister had often noticed him spacing out whenever Aleha walked down their street in the morning. At first it seemed he was merely staring out the window in a sleepy daze, but after a month it began to form an idea in Forte's mind. Of course she was known for being overprotective of her younger brother, so this notion made her uneasy.

She nudged his arm, "Kiel, are you listening?"

"Huh?" The young man blinked, "Sorry…"

Yup, it certainly seemed to be the case. Kiel had to be in love. She tried to hide her blush at the thought and continued her conversation. The Sephian princess walked towards the Clinic where Dolce was sweeping outside as part of her morning chores. Pico was happily bouncing about until smacked into the air by the very tool she was using. As the two held a conversation, Kiel turned to go about his daily chores while his sister took her sword and headed out for her patrols.

"Forte," The princess who had been walking towards the inn stopped her, "good morning!"

She was honestly startled, "G-good morning!"

"How are you?"

Acting normal was now difficult while facing the reason her brother was acting strange, though she was very good friends with Aleha it was now hard to speak with her. The two stood there in silence for a moment after their morning greetings – though it was quickly remedied by the knight's younger brother. He exited their home with a basket of food, the princess' face quickly brightened to a cherry blossom pink and she excused herself.

Forte frowned as she thought on the matter – did her brother have an unrequited love with the princess, is that why he was so depressed? She was more and more curious as the day went by; it was a subject she normally had no information about so she went to speak with Margaret and Dolce.

"Ooooh! How cute!" The elf squealed with delight at the topic. "His first love, he's probably confused."

Dolce was knitting quietly as Pico popped out, "Probably? He looked like he was about to panic when Aleha took his hand last week!"

She took his hand? Forte thought this while pressing her lips together in thought, her brother would easily take people's hands or arms to show them a new discovery, but hearing of this 'near panic' she was more sure. How could she feel the need to protect Kiel from someone as kind and pure-hearted as Aleha, even though she adored her baby brother? The object of his distraction was also a very good friend of hers, so she knew her very well, but being protective of her brother – she had to have an answer on her feelings.

Which with the determination she always had when it came to shielding Kiel, she stormed towards the castle, intending to confront the princess.

* * *

**_Ending Note! If you played the game and had him as the love interest for Frey, sometimes Forte would talk about their relationship and how she felt about it – so I tried to delve into her mind a bit! I hope you enjoyed it – getting into the slightly crazy older sister mode was a bit difficult - I have the slightly crazy older brother o_o - so it was a challenge!_**


	3. Chp 3: Friendly Conversation

_**Note: **_

_**Sorry for the long update, I got sick and had writers block so it was a gummy week =(**_

_**Also, I love the reviews; you all keep giving me little sparks of inspiration, even when my brain isn't working so thank you! =)**_

_**Tried getting into the mindset of the crazy older sister again -_- So difficult but so fun at the same time!**_

* * *

Forte stormed her way towards the castle, knowing exactly where the princess would be at this time of the day. The look in her eyes frightened the townsfolk who had been walking through the courtyard, even Doug had to nearly leap out of her path. A chill ran down Aleha's spine as she looked out her window to find the knight coming towards the castle. She smiled and happily ran out to see her friend, but found when she greeted her at the door – the knight was less than friendly at the moment.

"Aleha, may we speak?"

The princess was put on edge by her speaking formally with her, "Is something wrong?"

"May we go into your room to discuss this?"

"Of course."

Moments later Forte had joined her in the extended room next to her kitchen, she sat down as the princess brought in some tea. They sat quietly in the awkward silence for a moment, Aleha attempted to start a conversation by asking how Kiel was. Not the smartest idea if she had known the very reason for the knight's visit, a vein visibly popped in her forehead as she smiled. The situation was quickly becoming unsafe for the both of them.

"I have to ask, what is your relationship with my brother?"

All the blood drained from Aleha's face, she had been terrified of this day coming. She loved Forte like family but ever since she walked up behind her and had one pig-tail almost lost, she was deathly afraid of her angry side. Trying to divert away from the question only made her repeat it, growing angrier every second she avoided it.

"_Answer me!_" Forte had taken her friend's wrist, startling them both. She quickly became ashamed and let go, "I-I'm sorry, Aleha."

One of the only ways to calm the knight down when she was emotional was with exercise; being one of her best friends she knew this. The princess exited to the other room and returned with two weapons, a set of duel blades for her and a large claymore for Forte. When she threw the weapon to the now sulking knight she was greeted with a surprised look.

"Let's duel," Aleha smiled playfully, "I'll give you an honest answer if you win!"

The one who had helped the princess remember how to fight was Forte originally, though she quickly caught up and began to equal her teacher. Taking the large sword she shifted to feel the weight of it and found it to be to her liking, a sturdy blade made by the princess herself. Aleha told her it was intended to be her birthday present – she had been so lost in thought on the situation between the princess and her brother that she had forgotten her own birthday.

As they walked outside to the outskirts of town, Kiel walked by and saw the two holding weapons – thinking they were going to fulfill a request from the box, he ignored it and kept going towards the flower shop. The summer air was nice, he thought nonchalantly while walking to the flower shop to buy flowers for his sister's birthday, not knowing what was really going on.

* * *

_**Ending Note: **_

_**I tried to point out how oblivious he really is during the end there! He kind of is in the game too and I'm always face-palming at him. Still one of my favorite bachelors though!**_


	4. Bonus Chp: Scary Stories

_**Note:**_

_**It's somewhat part of the story but not really in the right part of time, it's as the chapter says a 'bonus chapter' just a random out of place story I had pop into my head after no sleep at 4 in the morning while looking at random Rune Factory 4 Devianart stuff! **_

* * *

They had been married a short time in which they had grown a nightly ritual of reading at least one book together before falling asleep. Kiel had no shortage of books and merchants from other places often brought in books that peaked the couple's interest. When he spoke to his friends of his married life they often gave him odd looks saying it was more like them having sleep-overs like children. The young man didn't understand and seeing as he was the youngest in the group many knew he wouldn't quite get what they were talking about as quickly.

"You just have to set the mood," Doug was leaning on the general store's counter as the stray customer browsed, "All you two do is read together anymore, right?"

"Well, we eat our meals together…" A light clicked in his head, "Oh! And we occasionally come here to do shopping; we've even gone to the forest!"

How could the dwarf not find him to be a lost cause when he replied like that? He looked to the side and saw a crate of goods Granny Blossom said wasn't selling, and right on top was a book. While he had long had a unrequited love for the princess, Doug only wished the best for his naïve friend and her – so he thought on it. Aleha had a weak spot for scary stories; the right terrifying tale turned her into a clingy version of herself.

With a smirk, he handed the book to Kiel, "Here, try this."

"Terrifying Terrors from the Grave?" Curiosity gleamed in his eyes; he had read ghost stories before and found them fascinating.

"Yeah, should do the trick."

"Really?" Still innocently stupid, he took the book, "Thanks!"

As the young man ran out Doug nearly yelled about him paying for it, but realized, who the hell would really pay for a cheap book of horror stories? He wondered what exactly would happen if they read that book – probably something much funnier than he anticipated.

Having just finished two full stories Kiel felt a knot settle in his stomach, these weren't simple ghost stories but horrifying tales from the depths of hell! With his creative mind he could easily imagine every scene and terrifying sight that unfolded with every sentence. The silence alerted his wife to a rare occurrence, normally he would be excited to turn the next page but he was hesitating.

Aleha bit her lip playfully and trailed her finger from the middle of his back to his neck; he leapt out of their bed in fright yelling unintelligible words. Of course the woman felt badly for scaring him so badly, but found him being so flustered and scared was adorable and hilarious. He had taken most of the blankets down with him when he fell so she stood up to help him and remake the bed for them to sleep. When they settled again she took him in her arms and tried not to giggle at the sight she had seen only moments before. The man tried not to be afraid but found comfort in his wife's arms.

"Where did you get that book?" Aleha yawned ever so slightly.

"Doug…" Her husband had already begun to fall asleep, one of the few childish things about him.

She sighed mentally, wondering how she would help get revenge for her husband – she already had ideas in mind before she also drifted into a blissful sleep beside her oh-so innocent husband.

* * *

**_Ending Note:_**

**_I kinda set it around the time where the husband usually asks 'Hey let's make a kid' usually not said so casually but that's the jist of it. Still, I was half asleep writing this so please no hate, just random little ideas... Kiel is a little easy to pick on...  
_**


	5. Chp 4: Misunderstanding

_**Note:**_

_**Thank you to those who are enjoying this story! Gonna try to write as many chapters as possible for the story and bring the duel with Forte to a good close with this one. I am bad at writing fighting scenes so sorry if it's not to your liking!**_

* * *

The clash of steel sent sparks about, Forte had narrowly dodged blows from the princess' quick footed attacks while Aleha struggled to stay out of the reach of the knight's large blade. Both handled their weapons with expertise and could easily match each other – day became afternoon as they kept fighting their stamina equaling the others. Though Forte wanted her answer she could see her friend was obviously getting tired and starting to slip, the princess weakly gripped her swords and attempted to block the blade coming towards her.

She blocked the edge from cutting her open but the force knocked her already unstable-self flying meters to the side. Luckily she had reinforced her Scale Vest with plenty of silver and was kept from injury, even with the impact disorienting her. Aleha blinked as she regained awareness of what happened, sitting with one of her pig-tails having fallen from the clip, she laughed.

It was somehow eerie; with the edge of the forest being quiet the sudden laughter was quite odd. Forte didn't move from where she stood, taking a quick rest as she realized her friend was more tired than she let on when she fainted. The princess slumped to the ground, lightly breathing as if the whole world ceased to exist.

Being the friend she was, Forte picked her up after slinging the weapons into the pack the princess carried with her. Taking both she headed back into town where luckily the courtyard was empty and silent, an uproar would be caused if she was seen taking a half beaten princess back into town – especially if they learnt it was her own fault. Aleha mumbled something about fish in her sleep, causing the knight to stifle a laugh at how strange she really was.

With Aleha being settled back into her room, Forte set down the pack with the two weapons in it feeling as if she couldn't accept such a blade after what she did. She left the castle, to see her ever innocent brother passing by without a care and a bouquet in hand. Even if the princess didn't love her brother, she intended to shield him from that pain as she would protect him from anything physical.

She blushed again while thinking the word 'love' but moved on to see Volkanon about castle business that should have been settled the day before.

* * *

_**Ending Notes:**_

_**No dialogue in this one it seemed, besides a weird random laughter…**_

_**Anyways, just me being random with random chapters! Yay! **_


	6. Chp 5: Downpour

_**Note:**_

_**Still on vacation, kinda bored so I decided to write some more stories! 'Kinda' have writers block so here's a little something from when Kiel and Aleha go on an adventure!**_

_**He's normally weak, but everyone in the town is at least level 60 in my game so… Yeah. =)**_

* * *

Aleha took an airship to Autumn Road to deal with a King Wooly problem Vishnal had been having in the last few days. He apparently had been out there training and was nearly taken out by one, so she was asked to defeat three of them. When the butler had heard she was heading out she was asked if she needed a hand – but seeing as he made the request it seemed curious that he would ask to join her. Though kindly refusing because she had already found someone to go along with her the butler's smile dimmed until she promised next time.

The princess and her travel partner for the day set off, she had packed some food seeing as the trip would take until past noon. By the time they reached their destination they sat down by the strange 'save point' she was told about and opened her pack. She smiled as they enjoyed her food; Kiel often enjoyed sweets more than anything so seeing him enjoy the stew she had made was pleasing.

"This is really good!" Kiel smiled, making her do the same.

"Thank you," Silently admitting to herself how she got up early just to make it.

After lunch the two continued down the road, Aleha was thankful for the Rosary wrapped around her wrist, finding the quiet peaceful walk was good for talking. The two spoke more of how strange Forte had been acting – Kiel oblivious to everything that happened – and life in general in the town. The princess' mind wandered thinking how it felt like they were on a date, causing her to blush as Kiel took notice of a strange flower. She took a deep breath and followed after him, enjoying the time she got to spend with him.

"Hey, what's that?" The young man quickly went onto the next object that caught his eye.

It was hard not to laugh, but Aleha kept smiling as he went over and reached behind a rock to find a stray piece of silver. He reveled in his discovery and pointed in the direction where they were headed, having found the path. The princess looked to see clouds gathering and wondered if it would rain the next day before running after Kiel who had gone ahead. Following she saw them coming up on where the King woolies normally resided and removed her rosary as the monsters began to reveal themselves.

Though just as she did that the skies seemed to open up and rain fell to the ground like a sudden wave crashing into them. First the two looked at each other in surprise than laughed before running to the open cave they had seen nearby. Of course it would be difficult to fight such a creature in the weather that suddenly appeared, especially since it was raining so horribly that the two couldn't see more than a foot in front of them.

When well-hidden the always prepared princess looked in her bag to find some left over wood from her work on the farm and opened her book of spells. Kiel watched silently as she piled the wood and stood a fair distance from the firewood and created a fire. Once made they settled close to it and attempted to dry off, hoping the weather would improve later.

"Sorry." She frowned at her friend who was struggling to keep his soaked hair from his eyes, "I wish I'd known the weather would get this bad, I would have gone alone."

Kiel felt irritated, "You're saying it would be better you got caught alone in this?"

"Well -"

There was only one thing about the princess that could cause Kiel to feel a spark of anger if any kind of rage, it was her need to be the hero. He would privately train with the sword Bado made him in secret and always found her trailing on ahead, even past his sister. It was not that he hated her for it, but it frustrated him that she would protect him alongside his sister and it was somehow belittling.

"I just want to keep you safe." Aleha immediately regretted saying those words.

Kiel stopped fiddling with his hair clip and stared at her; she immediately blushed and stuttered for a recovery. Not finding anything she said to be appropriate she ran deeper into the dark cave – leaving the very confused Kiel to process everything she said. Though before he could begin to do so, a loud scream echoed off the cave walls causing him to panic. He quickly ran after the sound to find the deeper he went the darker it got and suddenly he felt the ground fall out from under him.

His breath caught as the darkness swallowed him.

* * *

_**Ending Note:**_

_**No longer on Vacation now! Half way through I was heading home so I finished it there! Kinda a jumble, I'm leading to something with this I promise It's not all for nothing, I swear! So let's see where my mind takes me on the next update! :D **_


	7. Chp 6: Protector

_**Note:**_

_**Been a sleepy week, writing tiny bits of this a day, kinda hope it puts off the right feel I was going for. Which for the record is to make Kiel a bit of the hero this time. Not too hard to do with enough creativity and caffeine!**_

* * *

The landing wasn't quite as hard as Kiel thought it would be, luckily landing on his feet somehow not breaking his legs. He heard an echoed roar in the near distance along with light so he headed towards it. Though he mostly felt worried that he didn't find Aleha anywhere when he fell, so he couldn't help but panic at the prospect of the cave being a monster den. When he came into the strangely lit cavern Kiel saw the very thing he had feared.

A large skeletal monster cornered Aleha against a wall, as a wound caused her to hold one arm she did her best to dodge attacks. She rolled out of the way narrowly dodging as the creature swung its tail causing it to send rocks falling from the ceiling. The princess cursed at herself for not bringing her healing magic as she noticed Kiel – the monster did as well.

It charged straight at him, causing her heart to stop but before she could react her feet carried her and took the blow for him. A pain filled cry filled the cavern echoing off the walls as Kiel stared in horror, unsure on what to do. One of her swords skidded in front of him and the young man felt a sort of fire burn inside him – was it rage or determination he wasn't sure, all he knew was the monster was going _down._

Aleha slowly propped herself up, grimacing as she held her shoulder, "K-Kiel, just run!"

Wincing, she picked up her other sword and tried to stand, and found it a trying task. Kiel knew if the creature kept rampaging they could potentially be sealed in that cavern or Aleha could take a more fatal wound. He called out to it, taking its attention as the princess struggled to recover. The young man recovered a tome he had within the pack on his hip thankful he had forgotten it there. As he cast the spell 'Sonic Wind' he found that slowly the bones would fall from the body – and then he noticed there was a strangely glowing core. As he struck it the creature grew angry and attempted to strike him with its tail.

Kiel rolled out of the way before casting another spell, finding the creature slowly exposing its weakness but the skeletal beast was not going to give up easily. Somehow the core seemed to be charged with rune energy so strong it could cast magic without any limbs. It charged a spell that seemed to follow him as he ran behind cover where Aleha was dressing her wounded arm.

"I can't get close enough to hit it," He panted as he took a quick rest, "It charges too quickly."

The princess nodded, silently taking a deep breath as she looked up over their cover and frowned, "That's not good."

Joining her, Kiel saw the creature slowly gathering the bones around the core once more – Aleha called out that this would be their last chance and ran to distract it. She called out before attacking but the core discharged some left over energy and sent her flying into a cave wall. The princess hit the wall with a sickening crack and fell silently to the ground, still as the air in the very cavern.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't take his eyes away from the still princess, terrified of the worst but somehow… enraged. This was the first time he had felt such anger – being the young man who usually took everything with a smile or a light hearted attitude. He took a deep breath, knowing the beast would have to fall for them to escape.

Quickly recovering, he launched another spell to distract the animal and dodged the attack it launched – rolling beneath the spell and throwing all of his weight into an attack. The core cracked, showing light before erupting and disappearing into dust. Kiel rushed back to the princess finding she was still breathing but now bleeding from her head. She groaned making a pained face as he picked her up and looked for a way out, praying to the divine dragons that she would be okay.

* * *

**_Ending Note:_**

**_Sorry for the long update? Not sure because I didn't check before writing this but glad it's finally done! I'm bad at fighting scenes but I tried my best, the image-maker in my head just couldn't compute and nothing looked good so it took a while! Still, hope it's okay - don't worry, we'll check on Aleha a little later ;)_**


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